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CNN Live Saturday
U.S. Give Red Cross Green Light To Come Back To Iraq
Aired February 14, 2004 - 12:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. authorities, in Iraq, have given the green light to the Red Cross to go into Iraq with a singular mission, to see Saddam Hussein. The latest on this unfolding development from Red Cross spokesman, Florian Westphal, on the phone in Geneva -- Mr. Westphal.
FLORIAN WESTPHAL, ICRC SPOKESMAN: Yes, hello.
ARENA: How are you, sir? So, tell me, how long has this been in the making?
WESTPHAL: Well, you are to know, first of all, that we've been visiting prisoners of war and civilian internees held by the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq really, since late last March, early April. So for quite a while now, many thousands have been seen and all this happens within the framework of the Geneva Conventions. Saddam Hussein is a prisoner of war and as all other prisoners of war, according to the Geneva Conventions, he should be visited by the International Committee of the Red Cross. So, the U.S., obviously being a state party to the Geneva Convention has always been in agreement with this in principle and have simply reaffirmed that to us confirming the specific case of Saddam Hussein.
ARENA: And, the goal of the visit, explain that for us.
WESTPHAL: The goals of these visits are really strictly humanitarian; it's really to get an independent assessment of the conditions of the detention and of the treatment of detainees. Look at things like food, lodging, access to medical care to insure that, as is anticipated by the conventions, that everybody's treated with a minimum standard of humanity. The procedures we use to try and find this out involve discussing with the authorities and discussing in private with the prisoners and they're really the same wherever we do the visits, just to give you an idea, last year we visited round about half a million detainees in 70 counties.
ARENA: All right, is this a one-time event or do you back and follow up?
WESTPHAL: No, the idea really is to repeat these visits throughout the period of detention, and if ever we find problems, we do report them bilaterally and confidentially to the authorities in charge, so that something can be done to resolve these problems.
ARENA: All right, Red Cross spokesman, Florian Westphal, thanks so much for joining us.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 14, 2004 - 12:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. authorities, in Iraq, have given the green light to the Red Cross to go into Iraq with a singular mission, to see Saddam Hussein. The latest on this unfolding development from Red Cross spokesman, Florian Westphal, on the phone in Geneva -- Mr. Westphal.
FLORIAN WESTPHAL, ICRC SPOKESMAN: Yes, hello.
ARENA: How are you, sir? So, tell me, how long has this been in the making?
WESTPHAL: Well, you are to know, first of all, that we've been visiting prisoners of war and civilian internees held by the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq really, since late last March, early April. So for quite a while now, many thousands have been seen and all this happens within the framework of the Geneva Conventions. Saddam Hussein is a prisoner of war and as all other prisoners of war, according to the Geneva Conventions, he should be visited by the International Committee of the Red Cross. So, the U.S., obviously being a state party to the Geneva Convention has always been in agreement with this in principle and have simply reaffirmed that to us confirming the specific case of Saddam Hussein.
ARENA: And, the goal of the visit, explain that for us.
WESTPHAL: The goals of these visits are really strictly humanitarian; it's really to get an independent assessment of the conditions of the detention and of the treatment of detainees. Look at things like food, lodging, access to medical care to insure that, as is anticipated by the conventions, that everybody's treated with a minimum standard of humanity. The procedures we use to try and find this out involve discussing with the authorities and discussing in private with the prisoners and they're really the same wherever we do the visits, just to give you an idea, last year we visited round about half a million detainees in 70 counties.
ARENA: All right, is this a one-time event or do you back and follow up?
WESTPHAL: No, the idea really is to repeat these visits throughout the period of detention, and if ever we find problems, we do report them bilaterally and confidentially to the authorities in charge, so that something can be done to resolve these problems.
ARENA: All right, Red Cross spokesman, Florian Westphal, thanks so much for joining us.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
